1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a continuous playback equipment which can consecutively retrieve and playback multiple image or voice data recorded on DVD (digital video disk).
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many methods are employed for selling products, from store sales to direct mail sales. One widely used method is that of house-to-house sales. In this method, a sales person is first trained in knowledge of the product to be sold. The sales person then directly visits the prospective customer, gives an explanation of the product using samples, advertising and other materials, and concludes a sale agreement.
Recently, Japanese society has been ageing, and there exists a growing potential workforce consisting of the middle and old who have passed retirement age. Serious efforts are being focussed on utilizing this potential workforce in the field of house-to-house sales.
Middle or old-aged people are more suitable as house-to-house sales employees than younger people because they are more skilled at conversational face-to-face sales and they may have longer and more extensive knowledge of the products. On the other hand, younger sales people have the advantage with regard to understanding recent products, especially high-tech products, and in training in product operating methods. To counter these weaknesses, it has recently become common to use DVDs, with their better sound and image quality compared to CDs, to help when providing explanations of products to customers during home visits. The DVDs can contain detailed information including still photographs of the entire product range, together with videos showing product functions and operation. The sales person carries a portable DVD player and uses this to recall exact and detailed data from the DVD concerning any product which interests the customer. This has greatly improved the effectiveness of house-to-house sales.
For a DVD compiled for use in product explanations for house-to-house sales, if for example one DVD is set as a single volume, the saved titles are classified using an upper order product category (home electrical appliance, office automation equipment, food product, furniture, etc.), and the titles contain data such as product photo and handling method, with specific subtitles attached.
When the sales person pays a sales call on the customer, the sales person carries with them a DVD as described above, mounted in a portable recording and playback equipment. During the sales talk images of the desired product and illustrations of its functions can be recalled and played back to the customer. In conventional recording and playback equipment used for this purpose, it is necessary to first skip the volume selection screen, then show the title name display, and then select the desired title from this display. When this is done, the screen shows a long list of all the subtitles included in the selected title. The sales person then selects the desired item from the list of subtitles and the screen for the selected subtitle can be displayed. However, in conventional DVD recording and playback equipment, when the sales person wished to display an image, a specified playback procedure had to be followed and two selection screens had to be navigated before the image was finally displayed, a procedure which took some minutes. In the course of a sales presentation where the customer has become interested in a certain product or feature and is considering making a purchase, if it takes some minutes to recall the desired image, the customer""s enthusiasm will decrease and the sales opportunity might be lost.
The present invention seeks to eliminate the weakness described above by allowing a desired image to be instantly recalled and displayed on a portable DVD recording and playback equipment by a sales person making a house call. Furthermore, for this multiple file continuous recall equipment, a DVD recording and playback equipment is used which can provide a continuous sequential display of prerecorded files consisting of units of single movie screens or a sequence of movie screens.
In order to achieve the objective of the present invention as described above, the present invention is a recording and playback equipment having a recording medium in which a plurality of data recordings have search addresses attached hierarchically, and where the desired data is searched for using a means for searching sequentially in hierarchical order for each level. The equipment can continuously play back a plurality of data, using a recording medium on which are recorded a plurality of data to which are attached sub search codes for direct searches, in addition to search addresses for hierarchical searches. A means is provided for searching for the desired data on the said recording medium using sub search codes; there is a means for playing back and displaying the found data; a means for saving a plurality of sub search codes in a preset sequence for the purpose of playing back such a preset sequence of data; a means for recalling the sub search code for the next item of data in the preset playback sequence after an item of data has been played back using its recalled sub search code; and a means for controlling the playback display using the abovementioned playback display means, of the data found on the said recording medium by using the sub search code for that data.
Second of the present invention refers to a playback equipment according to above present invention, wherein the said sub search code storage means is incorporated in the recording and playback equipment itself.
Third of the present invention refers to a playback equipment according to above present invention, wherein the said sub search code storage means is incorporated in an external remote control device used for remotely controlling the recording and playback equipment.
Fourth of the present invention refers to a playback equipment according to above present invention, wherein the abovementioned recording medium is a DVD disk.
Fifth of the present invention refers to a playback equipment according to above present invention, wherein the said sub search code is input using an input device attached to the recording and playback equipment.
Sixth of the present invention refers to a playback equipment according to above present invention, wherein the said sub search code is input using an input device attached to the external remote control device used for remotely controlling the recording and playback equipment.
Seventh of the present invention refers to a playback equipment according to above present invention, wherein an SR button is provided to select the search operation using the sub search code.